


I'm A Fool For That

by lukeinallhisglory



Category: Polygon/McElroy Vlogs & Podcasts RPF
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Banter, First Date, First Kiss, M/M, Technically this is just the asking out part right now but we'll get there
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:55:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28542915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lukeinallhisglory/pseuds/lukeinallhisglory
Summary: Brian finally (nervously) asks Pat out, first date and cuteness to follow.
Relationships: Brian David Gilbert/Patrick Gill
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	I'm A Fool For That

**Author's Note:**

> This seems like an obvious move for me, but at the same time what the heck am I doing trying to write anything from BDG's perspective? The whimsy on that man is not something I can live up to.
> 
> Regular updates are not my strength per se, but eventually, there will be more of this! I will update tags and everything as we go, do not worry.
> 
> Titles from "Wild" by The Japanese House

It had taken me all morning to work up the courage to ask Pat out. I kept making bets with the universe. If he looks up at me in the next six seconds, that’s my queue. If I see a second ladybug on the ceiling, that means I should do it. If Simone leaves her desk. If he gets up for coffee. I had been unproductive to the point of conspicuousness, and it was starting to become completely unsustainable.

In the end I got up to go to the bathroom and when I came back both his and Simone’s chairs were empty as if they had fled in the two minutes I’d been gone. I don’t really know where the courage came from, but instead of returning to my own desk I sat down at his and waited for him to get back. 

“Is this an ambush, Gilbert?” I hadn’t been watching the door and his voice startled me, striking warm anxiety through my chest. 

“Hi,” I said finally because it was all I could think of. I realized too late that I’d let his joke fall flat, but he didn’t seem to mind. 

“Hi,” he laughed, grinning easily as he sat on the edge of his desk, facing me. “What can I do for you, Bri?” His tone was deliciously sweet in a way I knew was about half teasing, and I clung tightly to the other half. 

“I have a proposition for you.”

“You’re propositioning me?” he teased, accidentally hitting pretty fucking close to the mark.

“Would you want to come over for dinner? Like, um, a date.” It came out just on the wrong side of nervous and I knew my face gave away my every thought, so I hoped that I wouldn’t have to clarify that this wasn’t a bit.

He sobered up quickly, his expression one of soft surprise. “Brian David Gilbert,” he said fondly. _Not an answer_.

“Patrick Gill,” I said reflexively, my tone tumbling further down the cliff face of nervousness.

“Is this all a ploy so that I’ll let you win tomorrow?” he grinned. My heart was still pounding in my chest, adrenaline singing in my blood. 

“In Quiplash?” I asked incredulously. 

“Vote for your answers,” he amended.

“You know which answers are mine?” It came out just a little softer than I had intended, giving it a sincere, embarrassed edge that I’d hoped I would be able to hide, but evidently not. 

“Usually,” Pat shrugged.

“Should I be offended or flattered?”

“Depends if I vote for yours,” he teased. 

“Do you?”

“Sometimes. I like the way you look up from your phone to smile at me.”

The vulnerability of that confession calmed me a little bit, but he still hadn’t actually answered me. “I’ve got news for you, Patrick. I smile at you like that either way.”

“I guess I’ve been wasting my votes,” he teased.

“Maybe I can make it up to you,” I flirted brazenly, my pulse jumping nervously. 

The banter was an attempt to diffuse some of the tension, but we both knew it wasn’t working. “Brian,” he huffed, reaching out to slide his fingers up my arm towards my elbow in an effort to calm me, but all he did was set my heart racing faster. “I would love to go on a date with you.”

“Thank god,” I sighed, flopping back in the chair.

“You really thought I would say no?” he asked.

“Yes,” I laughed, turning my hand over and curling my fingers into his sleeve so he wouldn’t pull away.

“So, when does the wooing begin?” his thumb stroked along my skin, setting it ablaze. 

“I think it began like two years ago, Patrick.” I sat up again, leaning towards him and putting my free hand on his knee. I could have sworn I heard his breath catch and he glanced down before he looked back up at me, beaming. “Are you free tonight?”

“Wow, you must really like me,” he was still smiling at me, reaching out and shuffling his fingers through the front of my hair, flipping it back from my forehead. Electricity ran down my spine, and I could feel my cheeks burning under his gaze. 

“Um, well, yeah,” I stuttered. “And apparently it means I no longer speak English.”

That made him laugh, which I counted as a win. He still hadn’t pulled his hand away from my hair, and he combed his fingers through again, somehow even more affectionate this time. “I guess we’ll have to find something to do other than talk,” he smirked. Much more effective flirting than mine.

“Charades.”

“Yeah, Bri, exactly.”

“Okay, I kind of feel like you shouldn’t call me Bri and touch my hair like that in public. Just because I tend to go a little tomatoey when I’m turned on, which is happening right now. And apparently, I do speak English now, but I wish I didn’t.” The bluntness of that admission sent nervous heat flooding into my stomach, but he just laughed.

“ _Tomatoey_ ,” he grinned widely.

“I feel like this is borderline indecent.”

“Only borderline?”

“I should go back to my own desk now.”

“Okay.”

I stood up and he let his hand drop away from my arm with just a quick catch against my fingertips. I started walking away, and then realized that among all of the flirting we hadn’t actually confirmed our plans.

“Hey, Pat,” I spun around.

“Yeah, I never answered you,” he laughed.

“No, you did not.”

“I am free tonight,” he confirmed, grinning at me.

“Free for what?” Simone asked, sitting back down at her desk. 

I looked back at Pat, floundering, but he just smiled at me and shrugged. “I, uh,” I gave him one last wide-eyed look and he nodded. “I asked Pat on a date,” I knew I was a full-on fire engine at this point, but I would become an actual fire engine if it meant that Pat would keep looking at me like that.

Simone was apparently not surprised by this based on the fact that her response was, “Finally! Brian’s been seducing you for a year.”

“He says two years,” Pat grinned, reaching out and catching his fingers briefly against mine again. 

“Ok, I wouldn’t say I’ve been _seducing_ you.”

“Oh, and he may or may not speak English anymore. I broke him,” Pat ignored my correction, smirking.

“I’m thinking about learning Italian instead.” He chuckled, but I think he was laughing at me more than with me.

“Ok Bri, if we spend any more time openly flirting, we’re both gonna get fired.”

“You’re right. Seven?”

“Seven.”

As I walked away, I heard Simone say “ _Bri_?” and I didn’t need to turn around to see her smirk.

-:-

The day felt excruciatingly long, strung out longer by the coiling tension. I knew that I had hit a new level of chaotic, nervous and stammering whenever Pat looked at me. It was so noticeable, in fact, that by the end of the day, Pat pulled me aside by the bathrooms, his forehead creased with concern.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly, one hand coming up to my side. 

“Yeah,” I sighed. “Sorry, I know I’m being weird.”

“It’s fine,” he smiled, fingers skimming against my waist. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“Um,” it came out much higher pitched than I had intended it, and I felt my face heating up. His fingers felt like they were burning me, like if I looked there would be singed holes in my shirt where he’d touched me. 

“Have you changed your mind?”

“No!” I said quickly, and I felt a pang of guilt at having made him think that. “I’m just being dumb because you know me so well, and I don’t know why but that makes me nervous.”

“What are the odds you’re always this nervous?”

“High.”

Pat smiled sympathetically. “Brian, all I want is to spend a few hours with you somewhere other than our place of employment.”

“Romantically,” I added timidly.

Pat grinned. “Romantically,” he agreed. He studied me for a few seconds. “I made you way more nervous, didn’t I?” he chuckled.

“Pretty much,” I winced.

He reached up to take my face in his hands, planting his mouth on mine in a brief clash, just long enough for my hands to fly to his waist before he pulled back. “Better or worse?” he grinned at me, his fingers curling into my hair. 

“Unclear,” I whispered, plucking at the fabric of his shirt nervously.

He laughed, thumb stroking at my jaw. “Fair enough. Sorry I couldn’t be more help.”

“That’s okay,” I mumbled stupidly, barely breathing with him standing this close. 

“Well,” he let go of me, taking a step back. “Okay.”

“Are _you_ okay?” I chuckled, letting my hands fall away. 

“Yup,” he nodded, slightly unconvincingly. “Just didn’t think that would be so…”

“Awkward?” I supplied.

“Hot,” he finished contrastingly. “You thought it was awkward?”

“The kiss was good. We’re being awkward now,” I laughed. “You can’t even look at me.”

He met my gaze then, and his expression was scorching. “You can’t seriously want me to look at you _more_ ,” he said incredulously. 

“Well now I definitely do,” I mumbled, and he laughed, looking up at the ceiling in affectionate exasperation in that way that he reserved for me. 

“I’ll look at you tonight.”

“Romantically,” I made my very best swing for a joke.

“Romantically,” he agreed with renewed affectionate exasperation. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. I'd love to hear what you're thinking. And otherwise, just have a wonderful day and I will hopefully see you back here when I update this!


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